Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category

This week’s EDSA euphoria has given me a lot of room for contemplation, not only because I’m currently in the process of finishing my Master’s thesis about People Power 3 and the EDSA narrative in general, but also in light of what’s happening right now in certain parts of the world where people are beginning to stand communaly against unjust socio-political structures.

Ever since the African-Arab revolts have erupted, I constantly hear smug remarks from some fellow Filipinos that “we did it better in ‘86” because the almost-miraculous rate by which people flooded the lanes of EDSA happened before the age of the internet and social networking sites. The EDSA People Power Revolution is indeed a source of pride for my people, but I would like to think that what Tunisia and Egypt have accomplished should remind us as well of the still-monumental task of deepening democracy and equality in our very own land. With what is transpiring now in another part of the world, I am humbled as a student of politics, a Filipino, and more so as a human being.

“…We have yet to achieve the cultural integration of the meaning of the Holocaust, which is essential if the slogan “Never Again!” is to become a living reality. We must ask ourselves why we have failed. Is it because we are unwilling to face the meaning of the event? Are we so repelled by its sheer horror that we are unintentionally repressing the investigation of what it means in terms of the future of our civilization? Is it because we start with the a priori assumption that events of this sort are unintelligible? Have we so “mystified” the event itself that it seems somehow disconnected from our own age, something that happened on another planet entirely? It seems clear to me that the crisis we face with regard to knowing and understanding the Holocaust is partly, if not largely, one of our own making.”

An Analysis of Philippine Socio-Political Realities and Opportunities Towards Mobilization for Radicalization of Democracy

Hansley A. Juliano

(Note: Originally a final requirement for the course “PoS 160: Current Issues and Problems in Philippine Government and Politics” under Ms. Joy G. Aceron, this is an expanded form of the writeup with initial ideas for tactics on mobilization and the social considerations attached therein. The themes will be revisited once further research has been conducted.)

Among the literature that has attempted to analyze and understand the development of the Philippine nation, its society and its component people, it is supposedly only Jose Maria Sison who was able to present a comprehensive framework for political change in the country via his seminal Philippine Society and Revolution (published under the pseudonym of” Amado Guerrero” in 1970). Characterizing the Philippine socio-political landscape as “a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society” via its collective colonial heritage of Spanish frontier-building among the vast East Indies and the United States’ avowed deceptive program of “Benevolent Assimilation,” the publication therefore pronounces that political change can only come through a “a national-democratic revolution, a revolution seeking the liberation of the Filipino people from foreign and feudal oppression and exploitation.” (Guerrero 1970, 77). Read the rest of this entry »

I thought this up in the spare time I have between reviewing for long tests and finals. Allow me to provide a short and humble argument for a Social Democratic Philippine State in three parts based on the three core principles of Social Democracy – Freedom, Equality, and Solidarity.

Let us begin with the question: are we truly free?

There is a prevalent misconception with regards to the notion of freedom, in the sense that it has become a freedom of individualist self-exclusion instead of the more tenable collectivist self-inclusion. Freedom is a word that connotes justice, but there is no justice in Philippine society. Read the rest of this entry »

With the campaign period for the 2010 Philippine elections kicking into high gear, one might be prone to the pessimistic notions which Jessica Zafra has outlined so succinctly in her Pinoy Elections: A Guide for the Dismayado. To paraphrase: “we are governed by actors and entertained by politicians.” In a sense, I doubt much of our desensitised population would be dissuaded of their notion that politics and artists are of different breeds: one only needs to visit any forum that would host opinions on the upcoming polls to see gems of cynicism such as the following:Read the rest of this entry »

Throughout the unfolding of history the twin slogans of hope and change have mostly been prostituted and peddled with much ruthlessness and aggression. Underneath the skillful adornment of such buzzwords is a traitorous ambition to write an eschatological account for political life that hails the well-managed bureaucratic nation as the only imaginable habitus for politics with the free market as the only optimal structure of economic organization. Hope and Change have been the golden calves of our time with most of us uncritically worshipping the various gods they represent: a promise of inevitable uniform global progress; a prospect for a tranquil end to all political and historic conflict; and a satisfying ‘social’ existence through ‘legitimate’, ‘process-oriented’, and ‘formal’ mechanisms. The great violence that undergirds all of these is the unapologetic exploitation of the human soul’s ability to genuinely hope, communicate, and act within the context of a vibrant community.

At present, the Philippines is once again under the charming aura of an election season. Arguably, the system of free, fair, and regular elections has been significant for the entry of unorthodox voices in the arena of institutional politics. However, what is increasingly alarming is the content of the discursive map being drawn by the contemporary operators of such a mechanism: that the pinnacle of political life today is the translation of our aspirations into the singular aim of securing and/or enhancing the present order. The political contest is adjudicated in terms of who can deliver the most efficient solutions to day-to-day problems. The destination aimed at, it seems, is a society whose affairs are neatly managed by a benign Leviathan while the corresponding task demanded from the people is to lay down their arms, strip off their labels, aspire for a goal of progress, and work industriously for ‘the good of all’, whatever that may be.

The brutal massacre of at least sixty-four individuals in Ampatuan, Maguindanao brings to the fore the vastly ignored problem of endemic political violence in Philippine elections. It has brought to light, once more, the grave danger of a culture of warlordism in the context of weak state presence – a culture that relies on impunity and uses fear as its main currency. The loss of sixty-four lives in Maguindanao opens our eyes to the reality of the state of the Philippine nation today – a reality that begs us to peer closer into the delicate socio-political structures that make up our country.

The ASSEMBLY calls for solidarity in view of the great tragedy that beset us on the twenty third of November THE ASSEMBLY calls for solidarity in grief for the departed but moreover in their call for justice. Not only for the sixty-four who just recently lost their lives, but for all those whose lives were wasted in the name of power and privilege.

It is but only fitting that a citizenry demand nothing less from its government than the maintenance of peace and the pursuit of communal good. It is nothing less than just that the Filipino nation demands that, in this pursuit of peace and freedom, those who trespassed the lines that delineate our basic human morals should be held accountable – it is only proper that those who are responsible for the Ampatuan Massacre be brought to face the consequences of their base act of violating human life and dignity at an unimaginable scale. It is only proper that the Filipino community begins this struggle for justice from hereon – a struggle to recognize the human reality of our nation’s politics; whether it be the reality of its misinterpretation, abuse, or the lack thereof.

Note: The resolution in its full content can be accessed via Sanggu President Gio Tingson’s Facebook page.

With the release of Resolution No. 20091103, the possession of the assaulting spirit of totalitarianism upon the Ateneo Sanggunian has come into full circle.

The Sanggunian’s latest directive that calls for the resignation of unregistered officers reeks heavily of the illusory images imposed by Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia upon its people back then: that the power of the individual to fabricate change out of a vacuum through singular acts as per established procedures is the pinnacle of political participation. This, in turn, necessitates the disavowal of a critical awareness of what genuine struggles for justice and freedom truly demands. To put it simply, it seems that the Sanggunian has severely fallen out of touch with the understanding that the deep political crises of our time requires consistent and chronic engagement outside the self-gratifying and solitary act of voting in the upcoming elections.Read the rest of this entry »